Apple, the tech giant known for its groundbreaking innovations, has once again made headlines with the announcement of its new MacBook Pro models powered by the 3-nanometer M3 chips. This latest development promises not only a significant boost in performance but also the "longest battery life ever in a Mac," according to Apple's official statement.
The new MacBook Pro lineup includes both 14-inch and 16-inch models. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 chip boasts up to 22 hours of battery life when watching movies via the Apple TV app and up to 15 hours for web browsing. This impressive battery performance is attributed to its 70-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery. On the other hand, the 14-inch MacBook Pro models equipped with the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips offer up to 18 hours of movie playback or 12 hours of web browsing, powered by a slightly larger 72.4-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro models, which come with either the M3 Pro or M3 Max chips, can last up to 22 hours when using the Apple TV app for movie playback or 15 hours for web browsing. These models are equipped with a robust 100-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery.
In terms of design, Apple has introduced a new "space black" color, replacing the previous space gray. This new shade is not only aesthetically pleasing but is also designed to be less of a fingerprint magnet compared to the previous dark blue "midnight" MacBook Air. Apple attributes this improvement to a breakthrough in chemistry that forms an anodization seal, which significantly reduces fingerprints.
Performance-wise, the M3 Pro model features a 12-core CPU and up to an 18-core GPU, boasting speed gains of up to 40% compared to its predecessor, the M1 Pro. The M3 Max, on the other hand, comes with a 16-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU, making it up to 80% faster than the M1 Max chip from two years ago. One of the standout features of the 3-nanometer M3 chips is their capability for hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which could revolutionize Mac gaming. Additionally, these chips offer hardware-accelerated mesh shading, thanks to a feature Apple has named Dynamic Caching.
Pricing for the new MacBook Pro models starts at $1,999 for the 14-inch M3 Pro version, while the 16-inch model has a base price of $2,499. However, for those looking for a more budget-friendly option, Apple offers the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the regular M3 chip starting at $1,599.
